General Accounting

The collection security guidelines provide internal controls designed to safeguard cash, checks and other types of tender received by departments. Some controls may not apply to every area but safeguards need to correspond to associated risk. Managers should ensure that their area is in compliance with this policy. Each collection area manager should develop a specific collection procedure document for their location specifying controls that are established. A copy of the procedures should be filed with the campus Controller’s Office and updated as necessary. New collection sites should request receipting approval from the Budget Office prior to collecting funds.  Assistance in developing procedures and evaluating controls is available through the Controller’s Office.

Any additional site-specific procedures should be documented.

Collection Safeguards

The following are practices that should be considered to secure funds received by a collection site.  Funds received could be in the form of cash, checks, money orders, credit card payments, etc.  These controls address the act of collection and provide initial assurances of security; however, each area should review its unique operation and assign the items that fit its needs.

1. All funds received by the campus are to be deposited to appropriate University financial system accounts established and approved by the campus Controller’s Office and bank accounts established by the University Treasurer’s Office. Under no circumstance should a University unit hold or open a bank account for the purpose of accepting and/or disbursing funds that relate to University functions.
    
2. Checks received by revenue-producing areas must be made payable to the University of Massachusetts (Name of the Operation).  Immediately upon receipt, all checks should be endorsed "For Deposit Only - University of Massachusetts".  The detailed deposit instructions can be found at this link http://www.umass.edu/bursar/document/deposit-slip. The Bursar’s Office should be contacted to obtain directions on the use of restrictive endorsement stamps for deposits.
    
3. Checks, credit cards, order forms, etc., often contain personally identifiable information (PII) that must be protected under Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 93H. Bank and credit card account numbers, Social Security numbers, and other data must be properly safeguarded. Refer to https://www.umassp.edu/treasurer/cash-management/merchant-services/ecommerce-compliance-resources for more information.
    
4. Unless specifically approved otherwise by the Controller’s Office, checks should be accepted only for the exact amount of purchase. When possible, proper identification (driver’s license, student ID) should be obtained and written on the check.
    
5. Receipts totaling $500 or more need to be deposited to the Bursar’s Office within 24 hours. Receipts totaling less than $500 need to deposited to the Bursar’s Office within 72 hours. Weekend receipts should be deposited on the first business day following the weekend.  Any area that makes deposits less frequently than prescribed must obtain written approval from the Controller. Note; Cash Bags section Item #1. Below, “checks can be sent through campus mail”.
    
6. Unattended cash/checks/money orders must be kept in a safe or secured locked area, and access to collection areas should be restricted.  Funds should never be left unattended anywhere without being secured.
    
7. There should be appropriate segregation of duties in the collection, deposit and reconciliation.  Where possible, these functions should be completed by different people.  At a minimum receipts should be verified by someone other than the person who collected the receipts.
    
8. Operations that need revolving change funds should request the funds through the Controller’s Office for making change.  Change funds should be drawn from and posted to the University’s financial system account as an advance. Change funds should not be obtained by using operational receipts. The amount of the change fund should be the amount necessary for operations and should be adjusted for cyclical conditions.
    
9. Where possible, access to collection areas should be restricted.  Keys and combinations to location should be safeguarded.  Access should be documented and changed as necessary.  
    
10. Cash disbursements for materials, supplies, or personal services from the cash receipts or from change funds are prohibited.  All expenditures must be made from approved accounts, following campus procurement policies. 
     
11. Payroll checks, personal checks, or checks made payable to the University or any unit of the University may not be traded for cash from collections or change funds.

12. Any time funds are being transferred internally or externally an acknowledgement/receipt should be produced.  Unless the receipts are in a sealed bag, the funds should be counted in the presence of each person. In the case of a sealed bag, the acknowledgement should note that it was in a sealed bag at the time of transfer.  The acknowledgement should indicate the amount transferred, date, and signature of both parties involved.  This process is necessary to assign responsibility for funds being deposited or transferred. 

13. Returned Checks: Checks returned for non-sufficient funds (NSF) should be posted to the financial system. Areas should attempt to recoup funds as soon as possible, requesting that replacement funds for NSF checks be in the form of cash, certified check, or money order.

Reconciliation of Collections

The following processes are designed to verify that receipts are being handled properly by all areas of the collection process. These practices ensure funds under the control of the operation are being correctly received, deposited, recorded, and reconciled.  The items stated provide a minimal level of monitoring to safeguard operation collections.

1. Centralized deposit locations should verify with the intended collection area the appropriateness of the receipt.  All checks should be endorsed 'For Deposit Only- University of Massachusetts' even when it is necessary to transfer the receipt to another department/area.
    
2. All receipts should be recorded on a control document (receipt form, cash register, tickets register, meter, etc.) at the time of the transaction. Control documents should be reconciled to the amount to be deposited. Deposits should be reconciled to the ledger.
    
3. Ideally, no more than one person should work from the same cash drawer. Minimally, each person collecting funds should have their own lockable cash drawers or method to establish accountability. Each drawer should be separately reconciled to the receipts recorded for that drawer.
    
4. A record of cash overages and shortages should be maintained and regularly reviewed by a manager. Variances should be investigated by the manager and, if necessary, corrective action taken. Overages should not be held to apply against future shortages or for other purposes.
    
5. The campus is responsible under State Internal Control legislation (Chapter 647) to report to the State Auditor’s Office any cash and/or property shortages, thefts, losses or variances. A loss occurs when funds were received but lost before being deposited or if funds in the control of the area are misplaced or misused. Each collection area is required to submit a monthly report to the campus Controller specifying any instances of such activity or to report there were no such occurrences. Reminders of the reporting requirement are issued via email by the Controller’s Office and replies to the email reminders may be used to report on the month’s activities.
    
6. Any loss totaling more than $50 should be immediately reported in writing to the Controller explaining the situation and any actions taken to correct the situation. A monthly report of all instances is prepared by the Controller and forwarded to appropriate offices. Additional audit or review of the operation may result from such occurrences.
    
7. Collection and change fund reconciliations should be done at least at the beginning and end of each shift, preferably not in view of the public.
    
8. Manual journal entries to record cash or deposit corrections should be made in a timely manner.
    
9. The collection site manager should conduct or review and keep records regarding collections and subsequent reporting and handling should be maintained for three years.

Cash Bags

Cash bags are used by areas that have high levels of collections to deliver deposits to the Bursar’s Office teller window or drop box. Cash bags will be opened by the Bursar’s Office the next business day. Sealable single use deposit bags are an acceptable alternative to using lockable permanent bags.

1. Whenever cash is transported from one building location to another, it should be in a locked bag and the bag should be concealed.  Bag transfers must be properly noted in a logbook.  When a deposit bag is released to another individual the following should be recorded in a log: bag number, date, time of pick up, and signatures of personnel releasing and accepting the bag.  Checks can be sent through campus mail. However, cash can never be sent through campus mail. When sending checks through campus mail, departments should use a manila envelope rather than standard size envelopes.
    
2. Bags are numbered and assigned to specific areas. Keys should be assigned by the collection site to specific individuals. If a bag becomes damaged, it should be returned to the Bursar’s Office for replacement.
    
3. Each bag should contain the collections and a summary of the collections signed by the individual(s) responsible for the deposit. A confirmation of the deposit will be returned to the collection site. The confirmation should be matched to the site’s records of the deposit.

Safe and Revenue Repository Controls

The following are guidelines that collection area managers should establish for any safes under their supervision.  Receipts should be locked in a safe at all times except when being processed or transferred for deposit.      

It is important that combinations or keys providing access to the safes or other secured locked areas be tightly controlled.

1. The area collection manager must maintain the following information for each safe under his/her control: internal control number, location, custodian, date of last safe combination change, and listing of persons having access to the combination. The knowledge of safe combinations and number of keys should be limited to the least number of people possible.
    
2. All safes must be kept locked except when cash is being taken out or being put into the safe.
    
3. The custodian of the safe must have signatures of the persons who receive safe combinations or assigned keys.
    
4. Each area is required to have procedures in place for accessing locked locations and periodically making combination changes for safes.
    
5. All safe combinations and locks should be changed periodically.  Safe combinations or locks should be changed whenever a person who had access to where funds are held leaves University employment or is transferred to another area.

Billing / Receipt Adjustments

At times, it is necessary to adjust an outstanding bill.  Adjustments could be made to increase or decrease dollar amount, change customer information, or cancel a bill partially or completely.  Adjustments should not be made to address collection issues or offset University payables.  Once a bill is generated, it should only be changed through a formal adjustment process and documented properly.  Where possible, personnel with collection responsibilities should be restricted from performing any billing adjustments or voiding receipts.  In all cases, the reason for any adjustment should be documented and approved by the collection area manager.

Information Security

All personally identifiable information (PII) should be kept securely in locked areas to prevent unauthorized access to information by persons internal or external to the University.  PII can come in many forms including name, address, SS#, DOB, and bank/credit account information.  Processed credit card receipts should not display customer information with entire account numbers.  In such cases, information should be manually concealed until the process is deemed compliant with guidelines.  Deposited checks should be shredded after 14 days.  All personal information should be filed securely until destroyed and not kept longer than necessary.

Annual Access Review

Each year the Controller’s Office will conduct a review of software applications (applications not supported by A&F Systems) involved in revenue collection to ensure that user access is appropriate and current for each center. This review is part of the University's larger effort to comply with industry standards for system information security.  

Unit administrators responsible for reviewing security access are contacted via email to query their software applications for access and review.  Reviews should ensure access roles are appropriate to the user.  Evidence that reviews have been completed should be maintained for three years.

General Items

1. Unannounced reviews of a collection area's operation may be done at the discretion of University and/or campus administration.
    
2. Inappropriated administration of University assets could result in disciplinary action by the campus against all individuals involved in the action.  If an obvious theft has occurred, the University Police should be contacted immediately. Persons who suspect a misappropriation or other financial irregularity may have occurred should contact the campus Controller’s Office. For more information, see the Fraud Policy.

Chartfields are attributes in a Chart of Accounts.  Chartfields make up a Chartfield String.  A Chartfield String is used to define, identify, categorize and sort transactions. 

The following Chartfields are used for Amherst Chartstrings:

• Fund - Type of Funding (Ex. State, GOF, RTF etc.)
• Department - Used to track information according to a divisional breakdown
  • Department Level DeptID's ending in 00000
  • Sub Department Level DeptID's ending in 000
  • PI DeptID's ending with 001 - 999
• Program - Used to identify groups of related activities.  The UMass Amherst Program Code is a combination of the NACUBO code and the A21 Code.
• Class - Optional field, used to further breakdown type of activity.
• Project ID - Used to track Sponsored and Non-Sponsored Projects. 

To request a new chartstring, use the Chartstring Create New Request Form. Complete it and send it either:

• by campus mail to the Controller's Office, Attention: Chartfield Maintenance
• or by email to @email (if signed form needed please scan and send)

To inactivate a Chartstring, make sure the Chartstring is no longer used for:

• Payroll
• Recharges (Example: Telephone, Mail etc.)
• Open Purchase Orders or Requisitions
• Procard or Travel Card

The following balances should be brought to zero depending on fund type:

• Budget Balance 
• Cash 
• Liabilities (All Funds for Accounts starting with 2XXXXX)
• Fund Balance 
• Other Balance Sheet Balances (All Funds for Accounts: 110001 to 299999)

The Controller's Office will clear off Fund Balances for the following funds:

• 11000 - State
• 51006 - Tuition Retention
• 51342 - GOF
• 52129 - Research Trust Fund

In accordance with University policy, the Responsible Signature Authority (DeptID Manager/PI) has the prime responsibility for authorization of expenditures for his/her DeptID’s.  The Responsible Signature Authority listed on a DeptID may delegate Signature Authority to another staff member (Students cannot receive signature delegation).  Listed below are the two Signature Delegation Forms and their use:

• Signature Delegation for Non-Sponsored Chartstrings
  • Use with Departmental / Sub Departmental Level DeptID's (DeptID's ending in 000)
  • Covers Non-Sponsored funds under the Departmental DeptID (Funds starting with 1XXXX, 51XXX, 52XXX, and funds > 53499)
  • If a Departmental DeptID has a sponsored fund under it a Delegation Form for Sponsored Chartstrings should also be filled out.
  • DO NOT use this form for a Faculty / PI DeptID, the Sponsored Form must be used for these DeptID's.
• Signature Delegation for Sponsored Chartstrings and Faculty / PI DeptID's
  • Use with Faculty / PI DeptID's (DeptID's ending with 001 - 999), this delegation will also cover any Non-Sponsored Chartstrings under the PI DeptID
  • Use with Sponsored Project Chartstrings (these are Chartstrings that have Projects starting with "S" and Funds in the range 531XX - 534XX)
  • OWL training for Cost Allowability for Sponsored Grants must be completed before the signature delegation is granted.

 Note:

• The Manager listed on a DeptID is the only person that can give Signature Delegation.  A delegate cannot give out Signature Delegation in place of the manager.
• On the Sponsored Project Delegation - be sure that the PI initials the areas of delegation (do not place checks or X next to this area).  
• Signature Delegation does not replace the manager listed on a DeptID.  Please use the Department ID Manager Change Request Form if the manager is changing (Ex. New Department Head/Chair).

If a Department Head is changing, submit the following forms:

1. Department ID Manager Change Request Form
2. Signature Delegation Termination Form for out going Department Head
3. Signature Delegation Form for Non-Sponsored Chartstrings for new Department Head

Assignment of Account Administrator
Chartstring Create Request Form
Chartstring Inactivation Request Form
Department ID Manager Change Request
Faculty PI DeptID Lookup
Signature Delegation for Departmental DeptIDs
Signature Delegation for Sponsored Projects
Signature Delegation Termination Form

FY25 Journal Submission Deadlines
Journal Attachment Instructions
Journal Entry Guide
Journal Entry Import Instructions
Journal Upload Spreadsheet
Journal Upload Win10 Spreadsheet
Journal Workflow Guide

The provider of the service or product must first obtain an approved fee through the campus Budget Office. The department requesting the services or products are billed either directly by the provider or sent a recharge (an invoice) describing the service or product sold.  When a provider directly bills a recharge the provider forwards the requesting department a confirmation recharge (invoice) to support the service or product.  When a provider sends a bill to the requesting department the requesting department completes the general recharge form and is given instructions to forward the recharge and the general recharge form back to the provider or the Controller’s Office. All completed Recharge Upload files should be emailed to @email.

The recharge appears on the finance reports of the requesting department as an expense and as revenue to the provider.

IMPORTANT:  Please note that only specific recharge revenue and recharge expense accounts should be used for on campuse recharge transactions as to not skew Universiy Financial Reporting.  Please see the Recharge Account Code spreadsheet on the sidebar with allowable account codes for your reference.  Please contact @email with any questions.  

For Manual Recharges not electronically uploaded, please send forms to the following:

• Sponsored Project Grant related recharges please send to Anthony Grey at @email
• Non-Sponsored Chartstrings recharges please send to @email 

• Recharge Account Codes
•  Recharge Form
•  Recharge Upload Excel Spreadsheet for Windows11

Rules for Determination of Close Dates:

• There must be at least 5 business days after the month end to close the actual ledger. If there are less than 5 business days the ledger close will go out to the next Friday.
• The Friday for year-end close is the Friday of the split payroll week.
• Ledger closes are scheduled for Friday’s due to the length of time is takes for monthly reports to run after closing.

Logic for ADJUST Ledger Close:

• The ADJUST ledger will be used for the monthly/quarterly adjustments after the ACTUALS ledger has closed.
• The ADJUST ledger will close 1 week after the ACTUALS ledger closes.  For the quarter close, the ADJUST ledger will close 2 weeks after the ACTUALS ledger closes.
• For Fiscal Year End, it will close on the last workday of July.

Logic for Period 998:

• Period 998 is for annual adjustments.
• This period will open on April 1st and will close on August 30, 2025.
• After the period is closed, any additional adjustments will need to be requested thru the Associate Controller in the President's Office.

Additional Notes on Business Units:

Worcester Business Units:

• UMWOR, WUMMF, WCCCP, WCPSP, WCS00, WCS01, WCS03 thru WCS11, EL600, EL610 and EL650.
• WCS02 will be located in Amherst but belongs to WCCCP.

Building Authority & Foundation Business Units:

• UMBLD and UMFND business units will follow the same closing schedule outlined above.  Activities will be booked at the President's Office on a quarterly/annual basis.  These business units are shared across campuses and are identified by campus using the department number.  Below is the list of departments:
  • AMH1000000 - Amherst
  • BOS1000000 - Boston
  • CEN1000000 - President's Office
  • DAR1000000 - Dartmouth
  • LOW1000000 - Lowell
  • WOR1000000 - Worcester

UMass Global Business Units:

• UMGLB, UMCBE and EL800 business units will follow the same closing schedule outlined above.  Activities will be booked at the President's Office on a quarterly/annual basis.

ULARC - UMass Lowell Applied Research:

• ULARC business unit will follow the same closing schedule outlined above.  Activities will be booked by the Lowell campus on quarterly/annual basis.

Last Updated: 

9/4/24

Purchase orders and invoices exported from BuyWays to PeopleSoft will be put on hold on June 28th (5pm). BuyWays users may continue to enter requisitions, but purchase orders will not be exported to PeopleSoft until the FY rollover is complete.  All open Purchase Order balances in PeopleSoft on July 2nd will be rolled over to FY25.

For outstanding commitments on FY24 POs to roll into FY25, the FY24 POs must be in an Approved or Dispatched status with a Valid Budget Check. There must be a valid budget row in the appropriate departmental FY25 budget to accommodate the rolled balance on the FY24 PO, or the PO will fail budget checking in FY25. UPST staff will work with departments to ensure that all qualified purchase orders roll into FY25.

Asset Receiving on FY24 PO’s must be vouchered by June 30th, therefore, the invoice and packing slip must be submitted by June 25th. To be considered Received, an item must be inspected and tagged.

During the FY24 close, UPST will be closing many POs created prior to 7/1/22. All PO owners of impacted POs subject to closure should have already been notified by UPST. If no action is taken by the PO owner, the PO will be closed. If there is a valid business reason that the PO cannot be closed, please submit a case to UPST, @email, for review and final determination.

Payroll through June 30, 2024 (PPE 06/29/24 and 1/14th of PPE 07/13/24) will be expensed in all departments in FY24. The fringe benefit rate applied to payroll is the rate in effect for the fiscal year of the payroll expense. The FY24 fringe rate is 43.20% and 2.11% for payroll taxes (UI/UHI/Medicare/ PFML). The proposed fringe rate for FY25 is 43.43% (Health/Retirement/ Terminal Leave) and 1.62% for payroll taxes.

The A/P check runs during the last few weeks of the fiscal year are: 6/18, 6/20, 6/25, and 6/27. The first A/P check run of FY25 will be on 7/2.